CHAPEL HILL – The constant praise by Mack Brown of his secondary is all-encompassing.

He raves about the cornerback spots with its experience, talent, and depth. And he has done nothing but speak positives about the safety and star positions. Again, talent, depth, and experience.

“I’m really pleased with the secondary,” Brown said. “We’re going to be deeper and I think better than we’ve been.”

Beginning with safety, think about it for a minute:

Even with injuries as a sophomore last year, Will Hardy has played 569 career snaps. DeAndre Boykins, who missed last season with a torn ACL, has played 971, though at the star position. Jakeen Harris, who waslostfor the season in the first game a year ago at NC State, has logged 1,833 career snaps. And Stick Lane has been on the field on defense for 2,552 snaps. That’s 5,925 just at safety alone.

“We’ll be deeper at safety than we’ve been,” Brown said.

Boykins started all 14 games at the star position two seasons ago, but has been moved mostly to safety. The expectation is that’s where he will be when fall camp opens Monday night, though he could rotate at star, too.

Still not 100 percent in his recovery, Boykins participated in the spring, doing everything at full speed (once April arrived) except hitting. His time at star depends on how Kaleb Cost and Tre Miller perform over the next month.

“Dre can play star or safety,” Brown said about Boykins. “He’s a tackler, he’s a tough guy in space. I’m really, really proud of him. He loves football, and that’s a huge part of his life. When he got hurt, I really worried about him, he was so down… It was hard on him. It was a really hard fall.”

Lane was the star of the spring and has been for most of the offseason. A graduate and transfer a year from Georgia State, he was slowed by an early injury last season and admittedly took most of the season to catch up to former coordinator Gene Chizik’s scheme.

Lane loves new coordinator Geoff Collins’ more aggressive approach, saying it plays into his skills and the secondary’s as a whole.

“It’s very exciting. Blitzing is one of my favorite things to do, actually,” Lane said. “I love to blitz. There’s something about timing it up and getting back there right as soon as the hand off is happening or as soon as the quarterback (is reading).”

Lane played 409 snaps for the Tar Heels a year ago, and as a three-time All-Sun Belt Conference member, Lane played 2,143 snaps at Georgia State. In all, he’s played 2,552 snaps in college, and likely will surpass the 3,000-snap mark this season.

“He really stepped up,” Brown said following the end of spring practices about Lane. “You saw that hit (in the spring game), he (did) that all spring.”

Harris brings a great deal of experience and physicality to the back of UNC’s defense. A starter in 22 of the 48 games in Tony Gibson’s defense for the Wolfpack suggests Harris is a physical player. He is, Brown and his teammates say. And he also had an outstanding spring and could start this season.

In his career, Harris has 167 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, 11 PBUs, four interceptions, and started 19 times for the Wolfpack in 2021 and 2022.

Overall, Harris has played 1,833 snaps with 40 STOPs (plays that result in failure for opposing offenses), 71 targets allowing 40 receptions for 661 yards, and 9 TDs.

When asked about himself, Harris was more comfortable talking about the others back there, including one holdover Heel who has impressed him.

“Guys like Will Hardy who know both positions really good,” Harris said. “He’s really smart. He knows where the be on the field, so that’s really good. Stick, he’s real good, too. He can hit, he can cover. I love playing with guys like that.”

Hardy was an extra defensive back on third-down early in his freshman season before getting increased snaps on all downs at safety. He suffered an injury last year in fall camp and never appeared to gain full form.

He didn’t hit much this spring, but the junior from Georgia is going to play a lot, whether he starts or not.

The youth at safety is high on talent and athletic ability, Brown has said multiple times. True freshmen and early enrollees Jaiden Patterson and Ty White impressed in the spring and got some reps at star, though Cost and Miller will battle to see who takes the field first at Minnesota.

Cost, a baseball player for the Tar Heels, practiced just three times in the spring. But he played a lot in the bowl game, logged 72 snaps on the season, and the staff has no concern he won’t hit the ground running when fall camp opens.

Miller played 24 snaps a year ago and had an outstanding January and February, setting up his successful March and April in spring practice.

Brown loves the secondary, all three phases of it. He boasts about the overall talent, experience, and depth. All of that applies to safety, and in time to star.

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